Sunsets
by Levity
Summary: Angela's overly observant self always noticed an unusual amount of things; why was it so hard to have the courage to admit what you truly desired? ToT, Angela/Jin.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harvest Moon

**Augh no I don't even want to talk about how long my hiatus has been because it's been way too long**

**A shout-out to Nocturne of Shadow for being awesome, as both a beta-reader and a friend. Read Idiosyncratic. It's great.**

~o~

Have you ever made one decision that had been hard to make, yet changed your life for the better? It's an interesting question. Angela wondered this, too, after moving to Waffle Island. The place didn't seem so special at first. Harvest Goddess forbid she think that _now_, of course; the first few months there were just sort of… well, empty by herself. She chose to have her house up on the hill that looked over the River of Caramel River District, which unfortunately didn't tend to solve the matter of the problem. In fact, the walk it took to get to the main square of the town sometimes made Angela feel only like sitting around the edge of the water and fish a while; Toby had given her the old fishing rod on a day she'd seen him straying around by the by the falls not too far from her home. Angela's keen senses almost always caught him and Renee sneaking there during the middle of every day- the rancher would crack occasional jokes to herself about them being a cute couple, which made her feel even more lonely.

~o~

There had been one fateful night when Angela had decided to go on a walk that had been meaningless at first glance; her animals were all fed and set out to graze quietly on her open fields, whilst her formerly thirsty plants had been quenched with the water of life. It had still been bright and sunny out- in fact, it had only been but noon, the blinding and luminous orb still resting high above the sky. The warmth brought both light and exhaustion to the farmers far under its watchful sight. The great big ball had its eyes on all around it, especially in the middle of the horribly heat-stricken summer…

The first part of her day had been getting her furniture organized. There had always been someone scrutinizing her on her repeated tendency to overwork herself outside with no rest. It's not that she had meant to, of course; it had just been one of those habits that you never really suspect yourself of having until about the fifth time it happens. She never minded the unconscious part, really. She had more time to actually _think_ in that state, when she didn't have anything else to think about or to remember, since her own mind had been so hazy. She'd always forgotten almost all of the philosophical thoughts of contemplation that she'd really liked, albeit at least she had been able to grasp that sort of chance in the first place. Things like that reminded her that she was more intelligent than she usually took herself for.

Angela yawned. She didn't have very much furniture to re-arrange in the first place; the new renovation made the interior of her home seem that much bigger, and more… empty.

_Empty…_

The farmer sighed, taking this chance to kill some time by trekking down to Waffle Square. This was the beginning of the walk. Beginnings were where things started to happen, things were born and stories opened in 'once upon a time'. First, Angela needed food. It was a late Monday afternoon when the heat was the most murderous; the girl had wondered how such a small, desolate island hadn't just withered away from the overwhelming hot death that enclosed throughout the whole place.

In fact, Angela had spent more time at the Sundae Inn than usual; the heat was one thing she'd been trying to escape, but she'd been there longer than she'd wanted to be, and the General Store wasn't going to be open forever. And so, with a quickening pace and a hurried "I'll see you all later!" she'd been out of the place in a flash and down onto the further side of the Waffle Square.

~o~

As the door slowly opened with the bell signaling Angela's leave and the owner waving to complete the effect, the farmer clutched her new silver watering can in her hand and started to amble down the sidewalk. However, the rancher's overly observant self caught a glimpse at the very corner of her eye the image of _something_ alighted all alone at the edge of Cream Beach. She _knew_ she had seen someone through the window earlier; Meringue Clinic closed around this time…

Angela laughed at herself quietly. She'd always been so nosy; she'd been this way even with her own parents, though that hadn't been all that surprising. She inched closer to get a better look, and squinted her eyes. A silhouette had been visible in the middle of the bright red horizon.

Sunsets were nice, of course. They were amazing. You could actually stare at the sun without going blind, and the effect on your emotional health was considerably pleasant. This seemed to be a kind of different scenario, though; it was as if he came here every evening. The farmer could _tell_ it was Jin, too. A side glance into the window of the Clinic showed Irene making the last of the clean-up jobs, and no one else.

With a shrug, the girl decided it to be best to just trod back home. She talked to him regularly, of course, albeit this seemed personal. She didn't want to ruin his moment, and thus with her good intentions she made her way back up the hills of Caramel River District.

~o~

Curiosity still entangled the best of her mind. No matter what Angela did, she couldn't help thinking of Jin's adventure down the depths of the sunset's beauty. She would sigh, stare at her ceiling, and think for hours. She wanted to ask him. Even more, she wanted to _watch it_ with him. At first, she hadn't exactly understood what it was that she desired so badly. Everything just seemed so _empty,_ and she was gradually growing tired of thinking that! What did it take to develop the courage to admit to yourself what you really wanted in life? It vexed Angela so much that she decided to take a nap before setting off into the labyrinth of the evening. Sleep was important, after all- no need to rush things.

After the few hours of slumber, Angela casually ambled along the shores of Cream Beach, acted as if she'd just exited On the Hook after its closing time. It was a rather quiet Wednesday, the light of the familiar orb in the sky waning into the side of the world once again.

Angela had never exactly taken the time to actually _witness_ the sunset as it made the world look so constitutionally _flat_, if you looked at it in a certain way. The gleaming red-orange color melted into the sea, and the sky all around the fantastic sight had been a pleasant type of pink. The girl had been so mesmerized for a moment that she forgot her original objective completely. It wasn't until maybe a few minutes later (she assumed, anyway) that the reason she had been hiking along the beach had been eyeing her with a questioning expression.

"_Angela?_ I didn't know you had a thing for sunsets," Jin had said, causing Angela's chain of daydreams to break and shatter all over the floor.

"Aah!" The momentary shock of it caused Angela to squeal a little, and she turned to face Jin. "Oh, hi! Funny thing, meeting you here, ahaha…" The farmer cursed at her face for choosing the best time to turn red. The doctor sitting on the sand looked horribly confused. Angela sighed; there had to be a better way out of this, albeit there didn't seem to be, so she asked the simple question: "May I watch the sunset with you?"

Jin's face had already re-focused on the sky. "I guess I don't see a problem with it."

Typical Jin. Always one to be the enthusiast. He didn't say no, though, so Angela just shrugged and sat herself in the open area of the sand next too the already zoned-out man that possibly came here to this very spot _every day_. The things she had been dying to ask him became little mosquitoes, biting at the back of her brain over and over, rinse and repeat. When they started to spawn more of the unbearably annoying insect, Angela finally made up her mind. She had to hurry up, after all; the sun wasn't going to wait for her.

"Erm, Jin," Angela began, hesitating a moment before continuing again, "there's something I've been wondering, if you don't mind."

"What is it?" Jin had replied. Angela was surprised; he almost seemed slightly immersed in the conversation for once! Don't screw this up, Angela thought, _don't screw this up!_

"Well, I've just…" Angela paused to ponder for a moment. " Okay, so, I admit to seeing you here a few days ago, and it intrigued me a little, because you seem like you do this often, and I just… I've never seen you so interested in anything before."

Jin didn't respond for a moment. For one terrifying moment in time, the bewildered farmer thought she'd said the wrong thing; she _swore_ she had some kind of a communication problem- it wasn't rare for her to say something out of place, so she braced herself for the worst… only to hear Jin chuckle softly.

"Oh. Yes, actually, this is… something I happen to love doing, I suppose."

"… Do you like watching the sun set like this every day?"

"Well, only in the warmer seasons, obviously."

Angela's heart and mind were racing, but she didn't know why. She was actually _conversing_ with Jin. She'd done it before, but never like this. He just never seemed enthralled at all, and now suddenly he _did_. Was she _insane?_

"… Is there a reason?" Angela caught herself too late; the question had finally been asked.

"… A reason?" There'd been an unusually lengthy pause in the cooling air as the world melded into the night. The girl had her chin tucked under her knees, looking as awkwardly small as possible, until the man spoke again and she sat up once more to listen.

"… Angela, have I ever told you of the… girlfriend I had in the past?" His tone was suddenly very serious and quiet. All the girl could do was nod in reply, and Jin went on, "Years ago, we would always watch the sun set together. I never really thought much of it at first. Afterwards, it just seems more important to me now… when I'm here every evening, the memories just… I guess it's calming, too…"

"… You know," Angela muttered, "When I first met you, when I moved here, my first impression of you wasn't very… I thought you were cold, I suppose. After my few seasons being here I eventually warmed up to you; I knew you were nice and that I'd made a mistake, but… now I know that you're a little like me, aren't you?"

"Pardon?"

"As in… lonely."

"… Well, I guess you could say that. I swore to never love anyone else, but it gets rather empty after a point of time."

Angela had heard that word so many times in her head lately. Empty. Empty. It got monotonous after the first few hundred times, and it was still going regardless of that fact.

"… Would it… be a problem… if, from now on, we watched the sun set together? Maybe, after that, things wouldn't seem so…" Lonely anymore, Angela finished in her head. The darkness had long come now, the stars peeking out the indigo-black sky. Someone a distance away had lit a bonfire and the smell of grilled fish started to permeate the salty sea air. In the dim light, Angela had almost, through squinted eyes, thought she could make out an actual smile on the doctor's naturally pale face.

"I would like that," he replied, "I would like that a lot."

~o~

And with those words, Angela had forever learned that ignoring something never made it go away! The emotionless doctor turned out to have emotion after all, and that day she'd actually made him _happy_, and never did she think she had that power in her short years of existence! She had been happy too, because _empty_ no longer pricked at her mind, and neither did it at Jin's.


End file.
